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Training Major Point in Ferry Investigation; Australia Finds Possible MH-370 Fragment; Sherpas Have One of World's Most Dangerous Jobs

Aired April 23, 2014 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: It is the bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

And I want to take you back now to just the painstaking search off of South Korea and the frigid Yellow Sea waters for bodies now in this deadly ferry disaster. The latest number we now have today, 159. That's the number of bodies that have now been pulled from this ferry. Still 143 people are missing.

Training has become a major point of discussion in this ferry investigation. Were crew members properly prepared to handle an emergency such as this?

We are now kind of getting an example of how to be on board a ship in this sort of crisis and what should happen when a ferry takes on water.

CNN's Rosa Flores is here to walk us through some of this training in emergency situations like the one off of South Korea.

So, Rosa, take it away.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're going to take you through this. We're at Resolve Maritime Academy at Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

And this is what a bridge looks like.

David Boldt will give us a sense as to what we're looking at.

DAVE BOLDT, RESOLVE MARITIME ACADEMY: A full mission bridge simulator. You have radars, control systems, control engines and everything you would see o the bridge of a ship.

FLORES: Everything that you would need. Take a look at the horizon. Now we are exiting the port of Miami. You will be able to see, we will be out at sea and you can see an open body of water. And you can complicate things a little bit by adding, for example, large waves, and adding rain and thunderstorms, and then we also did something else. We got a rare view at another complication. So what if water starts rushing into the hull of a ship? Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FLORES (voice-over): On a ship this is the universal sign of trouble. Inside this model ship hull, instructors from Resolve Maritime Academy train crews how to prevent a deadly disaster at sea, like the singeing of the passenger ferry in South Korea. Investigators say the nearly 7,000 ton ship sank in about two hours. 476 people were inside when a boy on board made the first call for help at 8:52 a.m. local time.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

FLORES: The ship's crew made a distress call about three minutes later, at 8:55.

UNIDENTIFIED CREW MEMBER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

FLORES: The crew's response is critical to preventing disaster.

(SHOUTING)

FLORES: In this scenario, water is rushing in from an unknown source.

(on camera): Water is starting to rise. What do you do?

PETE DONLON, TRAINER, RESOLVE MARITIME ACADEMY: Get away from the damage. Make sure the crew knows about it.

FLORES (voice-over): They use anything they can to plug the holes.

(on camera): How much time do you really have to get out or to assess the situation when water starts really gushing in?

DONLON: It all depends on the scenario. The deeper the hole and water, the more water pressure is going to be pushing in.

FLORES: If I'm a passenger that's on a ship and I'm not familiar with the ship, what do I do to get to safety?

DONLON: Best thing to get to safety is follow the walls, get outside. I always recommend getting to the main deck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now we know that the South Korean ship listed at about 60 degrees.

Dave is going to do that.

Let's started listing it slowly to give folks perspective. This is the perspective from the bridge. What would be going through your mind?

BOLDT: If you list like this and you're not coming back you know something is wrong.

FLORES: There is an issue you would be communicating with them.

I want to give you another perspective from the passengers. Take a look at the second camera. You will be able to see what the 60 degree angle looks like. You can see the water a lot closer to the lifeboats and those balconies.

I want to come back to Dave.

One of the things that stands out to me is for a lot of professions there is continuing education. That's not the case for passengers.

BOLDT: No. There are some safety courses you have to renew. In general, once you get your license, you're good. Some of the clients that we train with, some of the big cruise lines are starting to do that and taking it upon themselves to do recurring training. That's why this facility was built, for them to take recurrent training. So they have taken that lesson from aviation and started doing it.

FLORES: And implementing it?

BOLDT: Yeah.

FLORES: So, Brooke, that's one of the big take-aways from here. Facilities like this were built so that these drills can be practiced and so that captains can be able to make the split-second decisions. And the cruise liners that are coming here are being proactive and having their crew members train to make sure that they can avert disaster.

BALDWIN: That's good. They should be. Just talking to a woman who was on "Costa Concordia." She said so much needs to change in the training, and sadly it doesn't seem to be there.

Rose Flores and Dave, thank you so much as well for that simulation.

Rescue divers in dangerous situations like that can sometimes use remarkable technologies to help and find some survivors.

CNN's Randi Kaye shows us what one high-tech tool can do to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're wondering how robots might help search for passengers onboard the South Korean ferry, watch this.

You're looking at a mini ROV, a remotely operated vehicle.

When it comes to ship wrecks, this machine is a workhorse. It can stay under water for days at a time, maneuvering its way through openings humans don't fit or is too dangerous for them to go.

RHONDA MONIZ, ROV PILOT AND DIVING EXPERT: So to go forward, you're going to use it. It's very, very intuitive. To back it up, you will back it up this way.

KAYE (on camera): Like a video game.

MONIZ: It is. Exactly. KAYE (voice-over): Rhonda Moniz is an ROV pilot and diving expert. She works for Seabotics, which builds these ROVs. This robot is directed by an ROV pilot at the surface. It moves at two knots per hour. Even in murky water or at knight, these robots can see. They have lights and special low-visibility cameras. They have sonar, too, which can pick up images up to 400 feet away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Randi Kaye, thank you so much.

I want to take you next to Nepal, because when it comes to climbing or even summiting Everest, if you are one of the few that can do it, Sherpas may have the most important and crucial job o that mountain, but also the dangers are miles high. You wouldn't know though if you look at their paychecks. And a lot of clients and Sherpas find that deeply troubling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: On the 48th day of the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370, Australia is holding a piece of metal that could be part of this wreckage. It washed ashore. It is a large piece of metal, part fiberglass. It's torn, riveted. And if it is from this missing 777, let's be clear, that's far from certain, it will be the first physical trace of the Boeing 777. No such trace has been detected thus far. But the Bluefin-21, which is on dive number 10, is nearing the end of its targeted search area.

Malaysia with a clue about what may happen next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN, MALAYSIA ACTING TRANSPORT MINISTER: In the next few days, we'll be talking to other entities to look at increasing the assets for the next phase. The time line I have to discuss with Angus Houston, but it will not be in the next few days. What is more important is that the search continues and this is an assurance that we will give to the families of the passengers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And as the search continues here, nothing. See this orange thing? I know it's called a black box. Obviously, it is orange. We know that. Only a handful of countries in the world have the technical know-how to open a plane's black box and unlock the secrets inside. One of the countries is Australia, the inventories of the black box.

CNN's Michael Holmes is in the capitol of Canberra and met with the experts who have the experience to decode this data.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a nondescript government building in Australia's capitol, Canberra, the secrets of Malaysia flight 370 might one day be unlocked.

NEIL CAMPBELL, AUSTRALIAN TRANSPORT SAFETY BUREAU: This is our audio laboratory with a specially designed screen room that's shielded.

HOLMES (voice-over): Electronics and audio.

CAMPBELL: Outside signals and as well it's got very good soundproofing.

Inside the Australian Transport Safety Bureau laboratory, where Neil Campbell and his team examine data records, not just from planes but also trains and ships.

(on camera): Now the reality is there are very few countries in the world, just a handful of them, who have the technical know-how to work out what's inside one of these things. This lab is one of those places.

(voice-over): Box from other investigations torn apart, burned, damaged in many ways, suggest a top assignment. But here they say the story of what happened is usually found.

CAMPBELL: A lot of our work is redundant. The recorders are easy to download.

HOLMES (on camera): Even with really damaged ones, your success rated with getting the information off is good.

CAMPBELL: Yes. We're always been able to recover the information from the records we received.

HOLMES (voice-over): He a cautious man, requisites for a job that involves not just knowledge but patience, lots of patience.

CAMPBELL: From the flight data recorder, we obtain a raw data file, which contains just ones and zeros.

HOLMES: The boxes contain a wealth of information, up to 2,000 separate pieces from the data recorder alone. High-technology built into a water-proof, fireproof, shock-proof shell.

At the end of this complex chain of information and analysis can be this, an animated representation of a tragedy, this one from a 2010 training flight. Two dead after a simulated engine failure went wrong.

CAMPBELL: A lot of the symmetry, which could be from recalled and the air craft ended up crashing unfortunately.

HOLMES (on camera): You're able to recreate the scene from the black box?

CAMPBELL: That's right. This is based on the flight recorder information.

HOLMES (voice-over): The size of the boxes is deceptive in some ways. The vast majority of it containing technology that supports the brain deep within, surprisingly small, but containing everything that Neil Campbell needs on a handful of computer chips.

(on camera): On a box that big, that is what you need?

CAMPBELL: Yes, that's the crucial thing.

HOLMES (voice-over): But they have to be found first. Malaysia, not a country with the technical ability to decipher the boxes, nothing's been decided, but it is highly possible, if they're found, will end up here where Neil Campbell and his team say they are ready to attempt to unlock a mystery like no other.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Canberra, Australia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Michael, thank you.

Coming up, Edmund Hillary is remembered for conquering Mt. Everest. He wasn't alone. At his side -- look at this -- his Sherpa. And his people made it possible for almost anyone to climb this mountain if they have the money and that is troubling to more than a few people. We'll explore that.

Also ahead, Chicago. I know you're thinking there could be no more beautiful ballpark than Wrigley Field. Ted Rowlands, what an awesome assignment today. He is there live for the epic birthday party.

Hey, Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brooke.100 years, Wrigley Field. We are inside the score board, the manual score board. This is Daryl, one of the guys who works the score board. We will talk about him and the big celebration when we come back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We have been reporting on the single deadliest accident on the world's highest peak, that being Mt. Everest. But now an American climber that survived that deadly avalanche at the end of last week is speaking out. John Reiter tells CNN that his guide saved his life. Reiter said he shoved him behind an ice book, got him out of the way when the icy avalanche thundered down. 13 Sherpas were killed Friday.

Ryder spoke by phone from the Mt. Everest base camp to CNN earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN REITER, MT. EVEREST AVALANCHE SURVIVOR (voice-over): You heard the avalanche come off that left should of Everest and it was pretty -- a good sized chuck of ice came down. It crash down and all the thoughts went through your head with somebody younger. How big was it, how much? And everything flashes so quickly. But then within seconds, the valley is full of snow and ice.

Our Sherpa did -- immediately just pushed us behind blocks of ice and just get down, get down. Just the cloud of ice and snow encompassed the canyon pretty quickly. He was an amazing man. He just immediately -- I keep thinking about that, how he did not dive himself. He turned to me and was like, get down, you know, get down. He's a nice guy. He spent his whole day that day digging his friends out of the snow, hooking them up to cables and flying them down the mountain. It's hard to imagine what's going through their heads.

It's just bizarre. We have all been to the mountains and we've all seen death in the mountains. But to see that many people brought down the mountains on a helicopter was obscene. And everybody up there is thinking about all those families and all those kids whose dads who are not coming home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Just the grief on the faces of the Sherpa community.

We can tell you that "Outside" magazine is reporting that a Sherpa, working above base camp, is nearly 10 times nor likely to die than a commercial fisherman, which is one of the most dangerous non-military jobs in the U.S. Following Friday's avalanche, many Sherpas are walking off the jobs, not as much out of protest but out of grief and solidarity. Nepal's government has agreed to some of their demands. Jamling Tenzing Morgay, the first Sherpa to reach Mt. Everest, says it is up to them to decide on how they want to move forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMLING TENZING MORGAY, SHERPA GUIDE: Shutting down the mountain is some of the opinion of the Sherpas, some of the Sherpas, as a form of respect for the Sherpas that died last week on the mountain. But I think it's the decision of the Sherpas, the 300 Sherpas that are still up on the mountain, and the teammates and the government to come to an understanding, and ask them whether they would continue to climb this season or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Just in terms of sheer dollars and cents, Sherpas make up to $6,000 a season. Foreign climbers who go there to make the trek to try to climb this spend $40,000 to $90,000 each to scale the mountain.

Coming up, a possible clue to flight 370s disappearance might have washed up along the shores of Australia. Could it be that all of the flights and satellites missed this? Now we could finally have something that could be tied to the plane. We'll explore that further, coming up. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Well, the part of the century, if you're a Cubs fan, happening in Chicago, why? The iconic Wrigley Field is turning 100 today. You bet fan and players alike will be celebrating.

Taking on the Diamondbacks. Both teams, right now, second innings, scoreless against the Arizona Diamondbacks, wearing the throw-back Jerseys.

And Ted Rowlands, pretty awesome assignment for him today, inside the manual score board there.

I have been in the Green Monster at Fenway. What you doing right now, Ted?

ROWLANDS: It's awesome, Brooke. Three stories high, the score board is. Like the Green Monster in Fenway, this is iconic. Build in the 1930s. A manual scoreboard. When someone scores, guys like Daryl have to switch the manual score board. They remove one of these metal panels. I won't do that to ruin things here at Wrigley while they're doing it.

The game is going on right here, as you mention.

Daryl, you've spent nearly 30 years at Wrigley, in one capacity or another. Give us a sense of what this ballpark means to you and the city of Chicago.

DARYL WILSON, WRIGLEY FIELD SCOREBOARD OPERATOR: Today it's like my family. A lot of hours in and took care of the park basically 27 years that I have been here, winter and spring. Pretty much like a home away from home for me.

ROWLANDS: You have a beautiful view. We're between innings and we can show what the view is. Here's a view, Daryl.

It's get pretty hectic in here, doesn't it?

WILSON: Yeah. Night games and Sundays, totally busy, running back and forth, up and down, yelling scores out, pitching changes. It's hard to hear that because of the crowd noises. It's hard to get these scores out to the other guys. It makes it hectic in here.

ROWLANDS: Show us the back of your jacket.

Brooke, it says Wiegmann Park. That was the original name of Wrigley Field 100 years ago in 1914 when they played their first game.

There's lots of celebrations today. A lot of the old Cubs are here. Ernie Banks was here on the field. And obviously, as you mentioned, every Chicagoan is tied to the Cubs. They love Wrigley Field. Everybody loves the Cubs. It's a destination, too. This is on a lot of people's bucket list.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I have been in those bleacher seats and I love the surrounding bars and restaurants.

Will you ask your buddy, has he ever put up the wrong number?

ROWLANDS: He has. We talked about this before.

You have put up the wrong number before, right Daryl? (LAUGHTER)

WILSON: Yes, I have.

(LAUGHTER)

ROWLANDS: He doesn't really like to talk about it.

WILSON: It was upside down. National TV saw it and showed it. One of the worst mistakes I've made.

ROWLANDS: He's been around 30 years so he's doing a pretty good job.

(CROSSTALK)

ROWLANDS: He really runs the show. You should hear him yell. He runs a tight ship.

BALDWIN: I believe you.

Daryl and Ted Rowlands, thank you so much.

What a unique and amazing look inside of Wrigley. Happy 100th birthday.

Speaking of Chicago, the season finale of the CNN original series "Chicagoland" airs tomorrow night at 10:00 eastern. Do not miss it.

Stay right here. The next hour of NEWSROOM starts now.